xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/ng_iface.4 (revision e9ac41698b2f322d55ccf9da50a3596edb2c1800)
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33.\" Author: Archie Cobbs <archie@FreeBSD.org>
34.\" $Whistle: ng_iface.8,v 1.5 1999/01/25 23:46:26 archie Exp $
35.\"
36.Dd July 31, 2020
37.Dt NG_IFACE 4
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm ng_iface
41.Nd interface netgraph node type
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.In netgraph/ng_iface.h
44.Sh DESCRIPTION
45An
46.Nm iface
47node is both a netgraph node and a system networking interface.
48When an
49.Nm iface
50node is created, a new interface appears which is accessible via
51.Xr ifconfig 8 .
52.Nm Iface
53node interfaces are named
54.Dv ng0 ,
55.Dv ng1 ,
56etc.
57When a node is shutdown, the corresponding interface is removed
58and the interface name becomes available for reuse by future
59.Nm iface
60nodes; new nodes always take the first unused interface.
61The node itself is assigned the same name as its interface, unless the name
62already exists, in which case the node remains unnamed.
63.Pp
64An
65.Nm iface
66node has a single hook corresponding to each supported protocol.
67Packets transmitted via the interface flow out the corresponding
68protocol-specific hook.
69Similarly, packets received on a hook appear on the interface as
70packets received into the corresponding protocol stack.
71The currently supported protocols are IP and IPv6.
72.Pp
73An
74.Nm iface
75node can be configured as a point-to-point interface or a broadcast interface.
76The configuration can only be changed when the interface is down.
77The default mode is point-to-point.
78.Pp
79.Nm Iface
80nodes support the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF).
81.Sh HOOKS
82This node type supports the following hooks:
83.Bl -tag -width ".Va inet6"
84.It Va inet
85Transmission and reception of IP packets.
86.It Va inet6
87Transmission and reception of IPv6 packets.
88.El
89.Sh CONTROL MESSAGES
90This node type supports the generic control messages, plus the following:
91.Bl -tag -width foo
92.It Dv NGM_IFACE_GET_IFNAME Pq Ic getifname
93Returns the name of the associated interface as a
94.Dv NUL Ns -terminated
95.Tn ASCII
96string.
97Normally this is the same as the name of the node.
98.It Dv NGM_IFACE_GET_IFINDEX Pq Ic getifindex
99Returns the global index of the associated interface as a 32 bit integer.
100.It Dv NGM_IFACE_POINT2POINT Pq Ic point2point
101Set the interface to point-to-point mode.
102The interface must not currently be up.
103.It Dv NGM_IFACE_BROADCAST Pq Ic broadcast
104Set the interface to broadcast mode.
105The interface must not currently be up.
106.El
107.Sh SHUTDOWN
108This node shuts down upon receipt of a
109.Dv NGM_SHUTDOWN
110control message.
111The associated interface is removed and becomes available
112for use by future
113.Nm iface
114nodes.
115.Pp
116Unlike most other node types, an
117.Nm iface
118node does
119.Em not
120go away when all hooks have been disconnected; rather, and explicit
121.Dv NGM_SHUTDOWN
122control message is required.
123.Sh ALTQ Support
124The
125.Nm
126interface supports ALTQ bandwidth management feature.
127However,
128.Nm
129is a special case, since it is not a physical interface with limited bandwidth.
130One should not turn ALTQ on
131.Nm
132if the latter corresponds to some tunneled connection, e.g.\& PPPoE or PPTP.
133In this case, ALTQ should be configured on the interface that is used to
134transmit the encapsulated packets.
135In case when your graph ends up with some kind of serial line, either
136synchronous or modem, the
137.Nm
138is the right place to turn ALTQ on.
139.Sh Nesting
140.Nm
141supports nesting, a configuration when traffic of one
142.Nm
143interface flows through the other.
144The default maximum allowed nesting level is 2.
145It can be changed at runtime setting
146.Xr sysctl 8
147variable
148.Va net.graph.iface.max_nesting
149to the desired level of nesting.
150.Sh SEE ALSO
151.Xr altq 4 ,
152.Xr bpf 4 ,
153.Xr netgraph 4 ,
154.Xr ng_cisco 4 ,
155.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
156.Xr ngctl 8
157.Xr sysctl
158.Sh HISTORY
159The
160.Nm iface
161node type was implemented in
162.Fx 4.0 .
163.Sh AUTHORS
164.An Archie Cobbs Aq Mt archie@FreeBSD.org
165